Website and Images

This blog was started to document the process of a large scale sculpture I started in October 2011. Fast forward to January 2015, I finally finished the piece titled “Industry, Entropy”. Although the blog has suited its purpose, I’ll do my best to keep it going as a place for in progress photos and studio snippets.

Upon moving to Philadelphia in September of 2011 I began work on a series of architectural drawings to use as the foundation for this sculpture. The finished piece consists of buildings that are mounted in the style of a pop up book above subterranean structures and systems made from salvaged material and silk screened wood. I spent over a year creating these pencil drawings on paper, then using radiograph pens made tracings on mylar to create transparencies for silk screening. The buildings were printed at Second State press in Philadelphia and cut out using a bandsaw at my apartment.

My background in printmaking inspired me in this case to create a large set of printable matrices. My process for making sculptures like this is broken up into different phases. I begin by producing a group of pieces or building blocks as if I were creating my own lego set. Once enough pieces are produced I then experiment and tinker with the different ways they can be put together. The process is like creating an image bank with wooden parts and screen printed elements. The fabrication of this particular piece required me to rent a space with walls and studs strong enough to support such a heavy sculpture. This prompted me to move my operation into a new shop in the the Amber street Studios in north Philadelphia.

After the !ND!V!DUALS Janky Donuts installation and a month long residency at the Wassaic Project, I began fabricating the base of the piece in October. I was heavily influenced by the Earth Box series I did at the Wassaic residency and wanted to make the subterranean world inhabited with huts, ladders, and structures implying a presence or utility. Arranging the buildings was a fun chance to group certain neighborhoods or aesthetics and create contrast in areas where they clash. The background tower buildings add some depth and enormity to the piece as a whole. It has been exhausting and rewarding working on something for so long. I hope the documentation on the blog gives folks a chance to see behind the scenes and offered a more intimate understanding of the work. On to the next project, cheers!